Messages

211

Students and Novice Stage Managers / Re: Should I be responsible for tellling an actor he's been demoted?

« on: Jul 27, 2011, 01:47 pm »

I've been in similar situations twice, and both times it was handled in a meeting with the actor, director, and production manager.

212

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Efficient Fight Call

« on: Jul 24, 2011, 11:14 pm »

Going off what BLee suggested...my fringe show last year had a few intense fight sequences, and we were able to work out a deal with the ACR and venue manager to do fight call in the green room during the show prior.

If you don't get through it in the 15 minutes the fringe allows....I'd hold the house.

Sadly, FringeNYC doesn't let you hold the house for anything. It might vary venue to venue, but I've always been told that the show must start at the allotted time because everything's scheduled so close.I also had some pretty cranky holier-than-thou venue managers, though...

213

The Hardline / Re: Going Equity 'Young'

« on: Jul 21, 2011, 10:36 am »

Got my card when I was 23. I had worked for 4 months in an Equity house, earning my points and all that, and was pretty content to get it that way eventually. I ended up moving to NYC, doing a lot of showcases, readings, and "special agreement with Equity" projects, etc until I was "signed in" on an off-bway project. By that point I was really familiar with AEA rules and had a decent amount of credits, so I went ahead with it. I worked with one theater for 2yrs and didn't have a problem. Now it's getting a bit harder to find work, but I'm also really freelancing for the first time so I'm sure that's part of it! I went Equity sooner than I had planned, but I'm glad I did it.

214

The Green Room / Re: WWMD? - Merchandising...

« on: Jul 16, 2011, 06:56 pm »

That is a pretty sweet tie.

215

Stage Management: Other / Re: How did you get started SM'ing Dance?

« on: Jul 12, 2011, 10:59 am »

I was recommended to a dance company by an actress I had worked with who had been in residency with the company. I had never done a dance show, but I had worked with some more experimental theater companies and was comfortable with a lot of movement-based calls. I'm still not much of a dance enthusiast, but I do their showcases twice a year and it's a nice dose of something different that keeps me learning.

216

The Green Room / Re: Hiring ASMs

« on: Jul 01, 2011, 10:01 pm »

Best question I've ever been asked: If you were a shoe, what kind of shoe would you be?

I like to ask: How do you deal with stress? How do you unwind?

It's usually pretty telling of their personality.

217

Stage Management: Plays & Musicals / Re: Onstage as an SM

« on: Jun 18, 2011, 10:48 am »

I've also made my off-Broadway acting debut! I also did a show where I was onstage the entire time, on headset. The show was set a lot like a rock concert, so the director had no problem and actually encouraged my going on to check mics, coil cable, hand off props, etc. HOWEVER, I don't know if you are Equity or not, but when the Equity rep came to see our show, they determined I had actual "acting moments" and the producers owed me a fee for each acting moment (I believe they determined I had 3?) per show...I ended up getting a check for nearly $400.

218

Tools of the Trade / Re: Covering Tattoos

« on: Jun 13, 2011, 11:35 pm »

layers of ben nye, latex, and powder. multiple layers. also make sure it has time to dry before she puts anything on it.



(brought to you by my last production, where a guy had to get naked and showered....and had a tattoo of scooby doo on his butt. yep.)

219

Employment / What (not?) to wear

« on: Jun 08, 2011, 11:14 pm »

What do you typically wear for an interview? Any go-to items (or, hell, lucky items)?

Inspired by reading in a womens' magazine today that, on interviews for "artsy" jobs, a lady should wear a piece of statement jewelry, "to show how fun you are!" This also reminded me of the first SM interview I went on in NYC, where I wore a wrap dress and heels and the director commented on how dressed up I was for a stage manager!

220

Tools of the Trade / Re: Cleaning out an Office - what to do with all that STUFF?!

« on: Jun 02, 2011, 12:13 pm »

I moved out of my theater to freelance a few months ago and have held on to/found most useful:

ALL the tapes. Spike, gaff, glow, duct, ALL.
First Aid Kit.
Small toolset.
Empty/mostly-empty notebooks/pads, pens and pencils, you know.
All my regular SM kit stuff- hand sanitzer, breath strips, hair ties, post-its, etc

My theater only wanted a few of the books, so the rest I trashed but saved the notebooks because they can be expensive!

Basically anything reusable I kept. Rest was trashed or donated to the theater (like the extra duct tape).

221

Employment / Re: lighting design?

« on: Jun 01, 2011, 08:12 pm »

Yes, having basic lighting knowledge is a plus, especially if something goes wrong, but that doesn't mean lighting designer = stage manager. On more than one occasion I've told people I CAN do it, but nobody should HIRE me to do it.

I find more often that I'm asked to be the propmistress/proptart.
Post Merge: Jun 01, 2011, 08:14 pmI also feel like if I decided pursue LD gigs while also SMing, that the SM gigs would dwindle.

222

Self-Promotion / Re: Voyage de la Vie

« on: May 17, 2011, 08:20 pm »

Sounds fabulous!

223

The Green Room / Re: The Stage Manager's Nightmare

« on: May 17, 2011, 08:19 pm »

Same! In my dream, I woke up and discovered I had fallen asleep in the booth, and an actress had climbed up to tell me that I needed to call a blackout to end the scene. I sat up, panicked, and discovered I had no headset and no way to call the cues. My board ops were FAAAAAAAAAR away and also asleep, so my frantic signaling did nothing. I woke up in real life, still never having called the cues.

224

The Green Room / Re: Who are we, anyway...?

« on: May 16, 2011, 09:36 pm »

That's....odd and sort of offensive. Did they offer any explanation as to what category SMs DO fall under?

225

The Hardline / Re: Stage Managers Networking Event

« on: May 16, 2011, 07:45 pm »

Excellent, I'm registered!


For those who have gone before: would it be silly to have a headshot attached to my resume copies? I just imagine they are going to see so many people that day.